Worker at Camp Hope for Kids Charged with Raping a Child

David Allen Fichter allegedly told police that he assaulted the 6-year-old girl some 20 times.

David Allen Fichter in his mugshot photo, provided by the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office.

David Allen Fichter in his mugshot photo, provided by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

Camp Hope for Kids in Schwenksville, Pennsylvania is a church-based camp for children where, according to its website, “lives are changed.” But according to Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman, one little girl’s life was changed for the worse due to the sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated by a camp employee.

David Allen Fichter, a maintenance worker at Camp Hope for Kids, has been arrested and charged with abusing a girl six years ago, when the girl was just 6 years old. Fichter, 47, is from Swamp Creek Road in Schwenksville. Police say that the attacks occurred both at the camp as well as at Crazy Carl’s Bar, a since-closed sports bar and restaurant in the camp’s vicinity.

The girl, now 12, went to police early in August and made the allegations, describing at least five occasions when Fichter is accused of abusing her. According to a criminal complaint filed in the case, the girl told police that Fichter’s genitals made contact with her body; Fichter acknowledged to investigators that he continued until he ejaculated.

Prosecutors say Fichter was confronted, first by the girl’s father — he was wearing a wiretap in partnership with investigators — and then later directly by police. In both cases, they said, Fichter admitted abusing her. They add that Fichter admitted doing so “despite her cries for him to stop,” according to a statement from Ferman’s office, and that he told police that he instructed the girl not to say anything to her parents. Prosecutors say they have a wiretap where Fichter can be heard saying “put me in jail” and that he “rubbed on her backside.”

According to a detective who interviewed Fichter, the suspect told police that he sexually assaulted the girl some 20 times.

Fichter has been charged with 60 counts, including rape of a child, sexual assault, indecent exposure, and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, among other alleged offenses. He remains in Montgomery County jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Camp Hope for Kids did not immediately respond to a request for comment.